In many people's memories, the cheese came before the town: Brie de Meaux, crowned the "king of cheeses" by the diplomats of the Congress of Vienna according to an anecdote the town relishes, has been gracing the finest tables in the world for centuries. Yet the historic capital of the Brie region, nestled in a bend of the Marne, deserves to be discovered for many reasons other than its after-dinner cheese board.

Four Pontoons Beneath the Cathedral

The river stop enjoys an ideal location: four pontoons in the heart of town, with a direct view of the Pont du Marché, the greenery of the Parc du Pâtis — one hundred and fifty hectares of meadows and backwaters, one of the largest urban parks in France — and the towers of the cathedral. You step ashore and you are there. The shopping streets begin at the end of the gangway, and the market, one of the most renowned in the region, livens up Saturday mornings with stalls where Brie reigns supreme.

The Episcopal City

Saint-Étienne Cathedral, a Gothic project carried out over several centuries, surprises with the pale gold of its stone and the lacework of its façade. Inside lies Jacques-Bénigne Bossuet, the most famous preacher of the Grand Siècle, whom history remembers as the Eagle of Meaux. The adjoining former bishops' palace houses the museum that bears his name: 17th- and 18th-century paintings beneath the vaults, a courtyard closed off by the 13th-century Vieux Chapitre and its stair turret, then a formal French garden said to be laid out in the shape of a bishop's mitre, from which the view takes in the apse and the Gallo-Roman ramparts; you linger beneath the linden trees, and the Grand Siècle suddenly seems very close.

The Memory of the Marne

The town also preserves the memory of grave times. In September 1914, the First Battle of the Marne was fought at the town's gates; the Museum of the Great War, the largest in Europe devoted to the conflict, recounts its daily reality through tens of thousands of objects, uniforms, requisitioned taxis and suspended aircraft. In front of the entrance stands Liberty in Distress, a monumental statue offered by the United States in memory of the soldiers of 1914. Allow half a day to do it justice; shuttles and taxis cover the distance from the centre in a few minutes.

A Taste of the Brie Terroir

You can't leave without a proper initiation: the cheese shops in the centre age raw-milk Brie de Meaux for at least four weeks and are happy to explain the difference with its stronger cousin from Melun. You leave with a wedge wrapped under a dome, which will discreetly perfume your cabin; whole-grain Meaux mustard completes the basket, along with a bottle of champagne: the appellation's first vines grow only a few kilometres to the east. The terraces along the Marne serve it all facing the barges.

Port Essentials

• River stop in the centre, cathedral and shopping streets a few minutes away on foot.
• Episcopal city: Saint-Étienne, the Bossuet Museum and the bishop's garden grouped together.
• Museum of the Great War a short distance away, allow half a day.
• Saturday morning market, cheese shops and mustard maker for provisions on board.

As the Water Moves On

The river resumes its course between the willows, and the towers of Saint-Étienne linger long above the rooftops. You thought you were stopping for a cheese; you leave with Bossuet, the Great War and a mitre-shaped garden. River ports of call have a way of defying expectations, and this one does it with true Brie elegance.